“I love you,” Darius blurts, taking a step forward. “I love you and I never want to spend another day apart. I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of our lives. I want to wear your ring and buy that cottage and plant sunflowers together. I want all of it – a future. With you. If that’s still what you want?”
Closing the space between us, I press a palm to his warm cheek and tip his face so that our eyes meet.
“There has never been a moment that I haven’t wanted that, angel. I know I upset you –” Darius starts to respond, but I shake my head. “Hold on, let me say this first, please. I did something you asked me not to and in hindsight, maybe I should have left it until we’d talked it over. But I was just so angry and scared for you.”
Darius presses his lips to mine, and it’s like for the past two days my heart hasn’t beat correctly. And now it does, because he’s here and he loves me.
“I know, puppy,” Darius starts, “when Darcey told me where you went, I felt the same. I was confused about what to do, and I honestly thought I could handle it on my own.” He runs a hand over the back of my neck, and I shiver at the gentle caress.
“I’m sorry I overstepped,” I admit, resting my forehead against his. “I’ve been there, D. I’ve lived a life where I dealt with everything alone. And I didn’t want that for you. I wanted to protect you.”
“Like someone should have protected you,” he says in a whisper.
His words cause my throat to tighten, and I swallow thickly to clear the lump lodged there. “Yes. Ineedyou to know that despite what you might think now, you can trust me. With all of you. I promise. I would never hurt or betray you.”
“I know you won’t, and I’ve never doubted that I can trust you, Ollie.”
Darius kisses me again, this time slipping his tongue between the seams of my lips. I open for him and he deepens the kiss, his hand slipping beneath my hoodie, moving it up my torso until his soft palm rests over my heart.
“You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Oliver Cross. You’re my beautiful storm and I am going to love you today, tomorrow and in every lifetime that comes after.”
With my lips pressed to his, I lift Darius, and he wraps his legs around me. I flinch, the sharp pain in my side reminding me about my injured ribs. Darius pulls back, his nose wrinkled in concern. “Maybe you should put me down.”
“Not a chance,” I say, kissing him once more, ignoring the bite of pain while edging us towards my bed. “I’m never letting you go again.”
His lips lift against mine. “Good.”
When we reach my bed, I lay him down softly on the rumpled sheets. His blond hair fans out around his head, and he looks at me with eyes full of affection. His jumper has lifted, showing off a sliver of fair skin above the waistband of his jeans.
“You’re so beautiful.” Kneeling on the bed, I spread his legs, then crawl between them, resting a hand on either side of his head. “Perfection.” Bending my elbows, I lower myself down, bringing my lips to the side of his neck, just beneath his ear. I hold my weight off him, so as not to press against his injuries. “Gorgeous,” I whisper, tasting the salty-sweetness of his skin with the flat of my tongue. “All mine.”
He shivers, his breath ghosting my skin when he says. “And you’re all mine.”
Sitting back on my knees, I wordlessly help Darius until he’s sitting up. Then I lift the hem of his jumper and t-shirt, pulling them over his head, revealing a lacy black bralette. His skin ismarred with purple bruises, and I gently run my palm over one particularly bad spot on his side.
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this? Maybe we should wait.” There is no doubt in my mind that he must be in some pain and I wouldn’t want to cause him any more.
“I’m sure.” He places his hand over mine. “Are you?”
I nod, thinking of my own bruises which ache, but not enough to stop me from making love to the man sitting opposite me.
Darius leans forward and captures my lips with his, licking into my mouth as he strips off my hoodie and t-shirt. “We’ll go slow,” he mumbles before he shuffles forward and climbs into my lap, a leg on either side of my thighs, our chests connecting, hearts beating in unison. My hands map the planes of his naked skin, along the curve of his spine, down to the dimples on his lower back. He rests his injured wrist on my shoulder, while his other hand grips the back of my neck.
We kiss until my lungs scream for oxygen and then we kiss a little more. Our cocks are hard, pushing together as we grind our hips. When we eventually break away, we’re both panting and Darius’s blue eyes are dark and sparkling.
His lips are glossy and swollen, and when he licks them, I dive forward and capture his bottom one between my teeth. Darius moans, the hand on the back of my neck squeezing to the point of pain.
“Need you,” he mumbles, releasing me and bringing his hand between us, fumbling with the button of my cargo pants.
“You’ve got me, angel.” With a hand on his chest, I nudge Darius onto his back. Nibbling his collarbone, I leave marks on his pale skin. He hisses when I bite a little too hard, and I kiss the sting away before moving down. I go slowly, kissing, sucking and licking every inch of skin in front of me. I suck his nipples until they’re hard and he’s writhing and begging beneath me. Then I lick his tattoo and kiss each yellow and purple bruise, mottlinghis skin. When I reach his navel, I dip my tongue inside before moving lower to the waistband of his jeans. Without taking my lips off his body, I work open his fly, pull down the zip and work the fabric off his legs. He’s wearing a pair of tiny black shorts, a silver bow in the centre. His cock is hard, pressing to the fabric, his tip peeking out of the top.
“Fuck,” I blow out a breath as a drop of liquid pools at the tip. Tanginess bursts on my tongue as I lick it away. Darius whimpers, the sweetest noises falling from his lips. With my hands on his thighs, I part his legs, then suck him through the fabric of his shorts.
“Ollie,” he mewls, his hips moving of their own volition.
“I’ve got you, babygirl.”
Pulling down his jeans, I watch as his cock springs free, kicking up to rest against his stomach. A prominent vein runs along the underside of it to the glans, and I trace it with my tongue, then suck his head into my mouth. Darius lifts his legs, putting his feet flat on the bed. Thrusting his hips, he pushes more of his cock into my mouth. I smile around his shaft, loving the way my man takes what he needs. My lips slide down the velvety length, all the way to the base, causing my eyes to water. Blinking away the tears, I bob my head up and down, keeping a steady rhythm. Beneath my palms, his thighs quiver, tensing the louder he gets.
